U.S. Election Assistance Commission National Award Commemorates Best Practices in Election Administration

Silver Spring, Md. – The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) today announced that the Denver County Elections Division won a national competition recognizing best practices in election administration. The county was selected for its excellence in election innovations. Born of the commission’s mandate to serve as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration, the annual “Clearie” awards recognize election innovations that can serve as examples to other officials and jurisdictions.

“These awards celebrate the very best in election practices across the nation,” said EAC Chairman Matthew Masterson. “As we travel throughout the country, our commission sees first-hand the innovation and commitment to excellence that election officials and their partners bring to their work. These awards acknowledge that work and highlight best practices that other election administrations can emulate.”

Denver County received the award for the launch of eSign, a first-in-the-nation mobile petition signing application. eSign allows candidates to use tablets signed with a stylus to gather petition signatures if they choose to opt-in. The app, running on tablets registered with the election division, is able to confirm that a signer is a registered voter because it interfaces with a voter database. Gatherers can also tell at a glance how many signatures they have collected, as the app keeps a running tally.

Prior to the development of eSign, candidates had to collect signatures on paper petitions, turn them into the Denver Elections Division and wait for them to be verified. Historically, 30-35 percent of those signatures were invalid, compared to just 1-3 percent of signatures collected using eSign.

Clearies entries were judged based on each initiative’s efficacy, innovation, sustainability, outreach efforts, cost-effectiveness and replicability.

For more information about the “Clearies” or to speak with Chairman Masterson, please contact Brenda Bowser Soder at [email protected] or 202-897-9285.

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The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was established by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). It is an independent, bipartisan commission charged with ensuring secure, accurate and accessible elections by developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and serving as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration. EAC also accredits testing laboratories and certifies voting systems, as well as administers the use of HAVA funds. For more information, visit www.eac.gov.